Time of Passing: Trip to the Soul Society

Standing in a large open area Shimada was still confused as to what was going on. Ichigo stopped in front of him and then held him back from moving. Looking back to Ichigo in shock, Shimada couldn't help but panic. Talking to Ichigo in a freaked out sort of way he began to jerk violently. "Hey what are you doing?! Let go of me now or else I will be forced to put you down!" Kisuke stepped out in front and he smiled before speaking to Shimada about what was going on. "Time to test you, if you can break from Ichigo's grip and then manage to fight me enough to knock my hat off of my head then we shall move on. Now start." Kisuke had a demented look on his face and it made Shimada panic even more. Jerking from side to side he tried and tried with all of his might to break free from Ichigo.

"Come on now, if you're going to survive this I believe you should try harder." Kisuke placed his hand on his cane and pulled on it. Shimada didn't know why he was doing that until he saw it, a sword disguised as a sword. When Shimada saw that he jerk forward then bashed the back of his head into Ichigo which made Ichigo jerk a little almost loosing his grip. Noticing that Shimada was getting ready to break free Kisuke prepared to use his sword against Shimada. Lunging forward once more and bashing the back of his head into Ichigo made him break free from his grip and fell to the ground. Shimada looked at Kisuke ready to fight to live beyond this. Ichigo stepped back and nodded at Kisuke before disappearing. "He's all yours Kisuke, I'll be over there getting ready for the next stage." Using some type of high speed Ichigo vanished as Kisuke then took a step forward and stood before Shimada. "Guess it is time to get started, I'm going to add some more pressure to this. Are you ready? Awaken, Benihime." With a glow of red energy the cane sword turned into a full fledged sword before the naked eye. Shimada's eyes went wide as he never seen such a thing before and it frightened him greatly. Kisuke lunged forward and pushed his sword forward next to Shimada and it formed a small crater next to him. "What's the matter? It seems as if you have give up hope on fighting me and surviving this. Well the Soul Society is way worse than this." Shimada pushed himself up on his feet and he stood before Kisuke with some fight in his eyes. This was no different than fighting off those Zombies except this one had great strength and had the ability to think.

"Your power is quite scary, however i cannot give up here. I may have lost my life to that damn helicopter but that doesn't mean i have forsaken myself and lost my soul!" Kisuke got a shocked look on his face as Shimada lunged at him and reached out with his right arm. Reacting at the last second Kisuke pushed him behind him but he wasn't paying attention to Shimada completely. Lifting his left arm he then pushed himself back and launched his right foot at Kisuke's head. Kisuke raised his left hand and blocked the kick and held Shimada there for a short while. "This will, where is it coming from all of a sudden? It is like his fighting spirit is pushing him to survive. What did this zombie invasion do to him?" Looking on with a shocked look on his face as Shimada then pushed himself up lifting him over Kisuke. Shimada used the fact that Kisuke held onto his foot as a pivot to launch himself over him. At this moment he reached out with his right hand once again to grab onto Kisuke's hat and yank it off his head. Seeing this coming Kisuke threw Shimada away from him using the foot he was holding onto then took some steps back. Even though Kisuke was holding back a lot of his strength and speed he knew the more and more he took on Shimada he was going to have to go all out soon. He knew that Shimada had too much survival instinct to go to Soul Society without pushing it out. Kisuke had to force Shimada to push his will to survive to its limits and make him toughen up. He was however surpassing Kisuke's expectations on a much larger scale than what he thought that a newborn Soul was capable of. "This guy is good, no wonder why Shunsui took an interest in him. Even while he was a human."

Pushing himself up Shimada emerged from the ground where he landed panting. Kisuke just looked at him and began to see the potential he had. He had received no professional training but yet he was keeping up with Kisuke at a almost half of his speed and strength. Standing back up Shimada then began to analyze Kisuke's stance and his battle tactics before leaning forward a bit. Holding his sword up Kisuke took a small step back and faced Shimada to prepare to see how tough he was. "It seems as if you are struggling against me, wonder why that is? Perhaps that power of mine is great..." Running forward he then ran behind Kisuke and grabbed his arm to hold it back. His speed wasn't like that of Kisuke's or Ichigo's but it was fast enough for him to catch Kisuke off guard since he never moved this fast before. Once he pushed Kisuke's arm back with the sword he made sure it blocked off his other arm then finished his sentence. "Or is it that you are slowing down? Either way I must survive or else my life from before would be completely wasted!" Reaching in to rip off Kisuke's hat, Shimada prepared to put an end to these games. Just as his hand got close Kisuke vanished then reappeared a small distance away panting as if he was out of air. Shimada just looked over at him then stood up right as he then kept his eyes on Kisuke to watch for more movement.

"I don't know how you are getting this good, is it your instinct? Or is it that your will to survive is this strong that you are willing to fight me head on?" Shimada just kept on staring Kisuke down as he then grabbed a near by stick and held it up. Kisuke just looked at him with a surprised look, however he wasn't that shocked since Ichigo said he used a sword during the Zombie Invasion. To a certain degree he was quite well preserved with a sword according to Ichigo's reports. Fighting Shimada like this only made Kisuke wonder if he was the incarnation of a past Shinigami or something along those lines. Kisuke just couldn't figure out why the Captain Commander would think so highly of this man. What was he to the Soul Society, Kisuke couldn't think of a single answer for this unless there was something to be thought of. "What's the matter? You seem to be spacing out. Keep that up and I shall get past this with no trouble." Shimada then charged in with all of his strength and then used the sword to push Kisuke's hat off his head. Within a second Kisuke used his sword to push the stick up and away from his hat. Right when Kisuke did that Shimada reached out of no where with his left arm and grabbed his hat then pulled it off his head. Jumping away from Kisuke, Shimada held Kisuke's hat in his hand and held it up at his side.

Kisuke then smiled and placed his sword into the ground and clapped his hands. "Very good, you seem to meet up with the Captain Commander's expectations." Shimada just perked up in some sort of a surprised way as if he wondered who this guy was. "Who is this Captain Commander? Is he like your boss or something?" Kisuke just whistled Ichigo to come back over here and just as Ichigo reappeared next to Kisuke, he then explained. "You shall be meeting him soon. He really isn't my boss or anything. Same goes for Ichigo, we are more or less his helpers here in the world of the living." Ichigo then stepped forward and spoke out as well. "Our job is really just to protect Karakura Town, however if the Soul Society asks a favor of us we typically help out." Shimada began to understand what these two had to do with the Soul Society now. They were just small break off from the main party and just protect this town on their own accord, quite noble and suspicious as well. The major question was why he would have an interest in a regular human and not one of their Shinigami. This made Shimada question a lot of things but now wasn't the time to really sit here and think like that. "So tell me, why did he pick me over the millions of other people out there? And why was Arturo included but yet he isn't here?" Ichigo got a shocked look on his face when Arturo's name came up from Shimada. Not only did he look away but he closed his eyes in a way that showed that there was some bad news.

"I just came back from searching for his soul, it has taken a turn towards the darkness. Meaning he is doomed to become a Hollow." Kisuke looked at Ichigo in a surprised look as if that wasn't supposed to happen like this. "Are you sure that your information is correct? I mean they said that Arturo was one of the strongest. Between Shimada, Arturo and that guy who is with your father." Shimada just looked at them both with a confused and shocked look on his face. He didn't know that a soul could become a Hollow like one of those creatures flying through the sky on that night. How could this happen to Arturo of all people, he was the strongest one of everyone from that group. Shimada had to do something for Arturo but he wasn't sure what just yet so he stood up strong and tall and clenched his stick. Kisuke and Ichigo noticed this and they stood there and watched as Shimada got angry. "Why him? He was the strongest of us all in that group! Tell me why he turned into one of those demons of evil and not me!!!!" Ichigo just looked away with a sincere look on his face while Kisuke held his emotions together. "There is nothing we can do for him anymore, however if we see him as a Hollow we will help him be purified." Shimada was just upset about this and he just didn't want to sit back and do nothing. "There is nothing you can do for him in your current state, we will send you to the Soul Society. Once there you will be guided in what you need to do. Once you do that then you can help Arturo." Shimada just looked at Ichigo with a sad look on his face since he could do nothing for him at this current time. He just dropped his stick and stood there as if he was helpless in the situation and could do nothing.

Ichigo grabbed the biggest of his zanpakuto and walked up to Shimada. He then lifted up Shimada's left arm and placed a watch on him. Shimada looked at Ichigo with a confused look on his face not knowing why this was on his arm but Ichigo explained before Shimada could question it. "This shall serve as a tracking device so the Soul Society will know that you arrived. It also serves as a watch so you get a free watch." Smiling he then looked up knowing that Arturo was still out there. "Find him quickly, I can't imagine the pain he is under with being one of those things." Ichigo just nodded and he prepared to perform what they called a Soul Burial on him to send him to the Soul Society. "Once you get there one of the Captain Commander's assistants will go find you. So where ever you land stay put and he or she will find you." He then got a sense of confidence back in his body. Shimada then stood proud and with full confidence he knew that joining the Soul Society he could find Arturo and save his soul. "Thank you both of you, you have done a great job helping me thus far. I am grateful." He then put a smile on his face as he then made a promise in his very soul that he will remember Arturo no matter what. That man gave him a place to be during the Zombie Invasion when everywhere else was unsafe. Ichigo placed the hilt of his large sword on Shimada's forehead as he then began to glow as if he were an angel. The glowing then turned into a butterfly as he then flew up in the air and vanished, to the next leg of his life, the Soul Society.